First Entry in Club Record Book

Table Tennis has been long established in our villages going even further back than the formation of the club in 1979. An article written by one of the club founders, Colin Watts, for the Millenium Capsule provides interesting background for both table tennis and the local recreational facilities that were available in the second half of the 20^th Century.

December 1999
My first introduction to Table Tennis was during the early 1950s when I became  a member of the Lockeridge Indoor Sports Club, whose venue was in a temporary building in Lockeridge School grounds. Games played at the club were Table Tennis, Snooker/Billiards, Darts, Cards and Dominoes.  W. Overton had its own club in the old village hall and I can still recall the tension of the local rivalry when we used to compete against each other in the Area Manton Indoor Sports League.  Other teams I remember playing were from Aldbourne, Mildenhall, Manton and All Cannings.  Unfortunately the arrival of television caused a drop in membership and these clubs gradually folded.

When the new Kennet Valley Hall was built in 1976 a Youth Club was formed with a  dedicated Youth Leader. As a parent I volunteered to help out on a rota basis. It was during this time that I noticed there were a few youngsters very interested in playing table tennis but owing to the large number of club members were unable to play properly. It was then that I thought it would be good to have a club just for table tennis. Not long after this a newcomer to the village, John Hoare, was also keen on the game so we teamed up and formed The Kennet Vale T.T.C.

The interest in the club was great with 23 members in our first year. Unfortunately our equipment was poor so we started fundraising which included Jumble Sales, Bingo and a monthly collection of waste paper from the villages. Our efforts were eventually rewarded with the purchases of two practice tables and two match tables.

We entered two teams in Division 4 of the Devizes TT League, Team A won the Division and Team B finished mid table. Next season – 1981 – Team A won Division 3 and Team B won Division 4. The following season we lost some of the players who had moved from the area so we entered only one team in Division 2. The team members were Nigel Waite, Stephen Watts and Paul Avis and they finished runners up so we had now made it to Division 1.

Over the following years the club had mixed fortunes but the high spot for me was when one of our players from junior through to senior level, Nigel Waite became the Devizes League Mens Single Champion for the first time. During the 1990s Nigel has become a dominating force in this League winning numerous trophies.

In the early 1990s we entered a team in Division 2 of the Swindon Thamesdown League and won the Division in the first year. The team members were Nigel Waite, Don Burt, Julie Mills and myself. During the same season we had a Swindon Junior Champion in Phillip Throup.

Unfortunately there are only two local players at the club at present, myself and Brian Rayment, who moved to the area about 7 years ago. To enable us to continue entering a team in the Devizes League we have recruited three players from outside the villages – Brian Hey [Mildenhall], Noel Sewell [Bradford on Avon] and Ron Chapman [Fighledean].

    C R Watts

Kennet Vale Juniors in the 1980s

Just after this article was written the Club revived its Junior Section and we now [Jan 06] have eight regulars, ages 12 - 16 attending our Tuesday session and a further three at our `starter` session on Wednesdays. We are anticipating the formation of a new `Beginners` League in Swindon shortly and plan to enter two teams. This will provide valuable experience which will help to improve standards so that we can start introducing our better Juniors into the senior Devizes League.

The Junior Team 2005

The Junior Team 2006

The Club currently have one Senior team in the Devizes League with three locals; Colin Watts, Brian Rayment and Adrian Dumpleton plus two fairly local – Steve Richardson [Marlborough] and Brian Hey [Mildenhall]. The team play their home matches on Tuesday nights.

A separate Team Northside TTC also play at the Hall and are in Division 1 of the Swindon TT League. Locals Brian Rayment [Lockeridge], Brian Hey [Mildenhall], Jon Nash [Marlborough] and Lionel Coles [Wilcot] are all regular players in this team.

Unfortunately the club have no regular practice nights but should anyone wish to make contact please call Colin Watts on 01672 861672 or Brian Rayment on 01672 861513 or email brianrayment@aol.com

The Junior Club Championships were held at Kennet Valley Hall on April 20th 2010 with two tournaments; the Open Knock-Out for the Hayter Trophy and a Handicap tournament designed to give every club member an equal chance of winning.

All members of the club entered both events; Edward France, Jack Rebbeck, Henry Roberts, Jack Ramage, Liam Watts, James and Sam Birkett.
Everyone put up good performances, the evening finishing with two closely fought and exciting Finals. In the end The Hayter Trophy was won by West Overton`s Henry Roberts, with James Birkett a close Runner-up. The handicaps worked out perfectly with a Final between 9 year old Sam Birkett and the Open Champion Henry Roberts. A close five set match with a nail biting finish saw young Sam win through to claim the Winners Trophy.
The Tournament was well supported by the parents who, with the players, all enjoyed refreshments provided by Vera Watts.
The season is now finished and will recommence in September.
May1st 2010 BGR

April 2011

Local Boys win
Devizes Table Tennis Junior Championships

The Devizes Table Tennis Association Junior Championships were held on April 1st and all the Kennet Vale TT Club juniors entered either the Under 13s or Under 16 events. There were approximately 30 entries and all our juniors :- Edward France, Liam Watts, Henry Roberts, Jack Rebbeck, Jack Ramage and James & Sam Birkett performed extremely well and were a credit to our Club .

The result couldn`t have been better with Henry Roberts winning the Under 16s with James Birkett runner up and James won the Under 13s in great style.
Our own Club Championships will take place on May 9th 2011 at KV Hall where all the rivalry will begin again